I knew it was a gamble when I made the purchase.
Cheap. Young. Inexperienced.
So many others prefer high-end rifles, but too often I had seen what experienced guns could do to a job. In the heat of the moment, when seconds feel like eternities - they try to second guess you. They’ve been around, think they know what’s best.
Sometimes, they try to coach as you line up a shot. Sometimes, they’re so god damned stubborn that they clench the trigger so tight you can’t pull the fucking thing.
No. No more of that.
I looked down at the pistol in the passenger seat next to me - bright-eyed, innocent. He was so excited to be on his first car ride that he hadn’t even asked where we were headed. Looking back to the road, I reached over and patted his cylinder - the way you’d tussle an anxious child’s hair before their first baseball game.
“Tim, I need to talk to you about where we’re going..” I started, both hands on the wheel.
I could feel his attention shift eagerly from the world passing by his window to me.
“Where we’re going, we have a job to do.”
“A job?” he asked.
“Yeah, a job. Something we have to do before we can do anything else today.” I said, trying to sound as upbeat as I possibly could. This felt strange. Forced.
“I picked you up and brought you with me today because you can do something that I can’t do. Do you know what that is?” I asked, glancing back down to him.
He was staring at me, with those big “I haven’t seen shit yet” eyes. Unsettling on a couple of different levels.
“I have bullets.” He was smiling.
“That’s right. You have bullets, and where we’re going - I.. I want you to show me what you can do with those bullets.” I had started this conversation at least five times in my head. For some reason, it always made me feel like I needed to be on some list somewhere.
“What do you want me to do with them?” I could hear his eagerness waver in that. Like it had just hit him that somewhere on this amazing field trip we were on today, he was going to be expected to do something right. I could hear the fear that he wouldn’t be good enough in his voice.
“Well, that’s the thing buddy. I feel like if I tell you right now, it’ll ruin the surprise. I just need you to know that sometime today, I want you to do something with your bullet. When the time comes though, you’ll know exactly what to do. Don’t you worry one bit.”
I made sure to fix my eyes on the road in front of us. I could feel his vision on the side of my head, but this was crucial. He needed to know something was coming - and he needed to know I had absolute faith in him.
We didn’t talk for the rest of the trip.
When we got to the restaurant, I heard him take a deep breath as I put the car into park. He’d obviously been lost in thought the entire way. That was good. I needed him vulnerable. Every time I played this out in my mind, it only ended well if he was nervous.
I hated that. Felt kind of wrong.
Fuck.
“We’re going to go inside now, and before we do - I’m going to put you in my pocket.” I was staring at him again. He was staring right back at me, quizzically.
“It’s alright. You’re just the right size to ride there. We won’t be here long, and besides, I want you rested up before you do your thing.”
“But, what am I...” he started.
“Don’t worry kiddo, you’ll know. I promise.” I cut him off. “When the time comes, you’ll do just perfect.” I picked him up, opened the car door, and slid him into my pocket as I stood up.
“While you’re getting ready, I need you to be as quiet as possible. We’re going to surprise someone today!” I energetically whispered, shutting the door.
The restaurant was just as crowded as I had expected. I had sat outside this shitty little fast food burger place every day for a week. The woman who was paying me had explained that her deadbeat ex husband ate here almost every day. She wasn’t wrong. I had been tailing him for seven days, and this was his fifth time to come.
Just like every other day, I knew he’d be here. I knew he'd be here because I had followed him. Followed him from the little motel room he’s been renting, followed him to the grocery store, even followed him to the video place where I watched him return the movies I’d seen him rent earlier this week. I was good at following people. I was good at almost every part of this.
I just wasn’t good at the unknown. Tim was the unknown.
As I walked towards the front door, I looked in through the windows. He was still ordering. Fat, mustached, child support ducking asshole. I reached down and patted Tim in my pocket. He was completely still, but he had a nervous electricity to him. I didn’t like that. It felt unpolished.
I caught a glimpse of myself in the front door as I pulled it open. Shit, I looked unpolished, too. I had grown my beard out again. I had that stupid ball cap on. I even wore one of those hooded sweatshirts. I looked my part. Middle class. Ball coach. The type of guy you notice and then immediately forget. Neutral.
I think, when I look back on that day, I dressed that way more for Tim than I did for the job.
As I ordered my food, I kept fatty in my peripheral. Same booth as always.
The teenager behind the counter took my money, and minutes later another teenager brought me my food. Sometimes I forgot how regular people ate.
I walked back towards the back of the restaurant, and sat myself down directly behind my mark. He didn’t even register me as I walked by. That was no surprise. He was already halfway into his third pound bacon cheeseburger with mayo - fries on the side waiting to be dipped in his milkshake five or six at a time.
Silently to myself, I started the countdown.
“5” I pushed the tray away from me.
“4” I leaned forward, one elbow on the table.
“3” I reached into my pocket, gently grabbing Tim by the handle as his breathing sped. He was scared.
Perfect.
“2” I was standing.
“1” I pulled Tim from my pocket and pointed him at the target’s head.
“NOW, TIM, NOW!!!” I shouted - as the restaurant went into slow motion around me. I could see him blinking his eyes - blinded by the change in lighting.
The husband started to turn to face me, I had expected this.
“What? I...” - his voice wavering.
“TIM, DO YOUR THING, NOW NOW NOW NOW!!!” I shouted. I had to scare him. I had to catch him off guard or else this whole thing fell apart.
The sound was deafening.
Tim unloaded his first shot ever straight into the side of the man’s face. Then, silence. Having done this job for so long, I know it only lasted for a second - maybe two, but it always feels like longer.
Then the screams.
People always scream when you shoot someone near them. Men, women, kids.. they all scream.
As I sprinted to the car, I heard Tim crying. Expected. I threw the door open, tossed him in and I followed. We were gone in seconds.
We ditched the car next to my getaway vehicle, I changed, and within seven minutes of me sitting down - we were headed out of that shitty little town. I remember him tearfully asking a multitude of questions while all this took place, but sitting here now - I can’t recall a single one.
He had to feel like he was in trouble.
In all actuality, he had done just as good as I’d hoped. I just needed him to think that his hesitation was wrong. Bad. This time had to be the measure that every future trip would be compared to.
In the SUV, I looked down at him. He was still sniffling.
“You kind of messed up back there, buddy...” I said, toeing the line between consoling and reprimanding.
“What happened? Did I hurt that guy??” he said, dotting his sentences with teary-eyed breaths.
“You didn’t listen to me when I told you to do your thing, that’s what happened. You didn’t do what you were supposed to when I said to do it.”
He started to sob again.
“I bought you because you were special, Tim. Next time, how can you do better?”
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